Saturday, 1 October 2011

Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Little Way

As this post is being written, A Procession of the Blessed Sacrament is about to set off from Westminster Cathedral on its way to St George's Cathedral, Southwark. This procession is taking place to celebrate the anniversary of, and to give thanks for, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to this country last and the beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman.

Here is some footage of the 2009 Corpus Christi in Rome, led by the Holy Father.

Today is also the day when we commemorate St Therese of the Infant Jesus and of the Holy Face, St Therese of Lisieux, often known as the Little Flower, the only saint to be declared a Doctor of the Church during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. She is Patroness of the Missions of the Catholic Church.

When St Therese's relics were brought to England in 2009, this was an instance of how the actions of the many people who crowded out the various venues where her relics stopped on their tour, were able to provide a great witness to all of the power of the Catholic faith. The small act of each individual who visited her relics achieved a powerful end, and this is a prime example of the Little Flower's "Little Way", sometimes viewed as too simplistic, but nonetheless a potent means of communicating to all that the way to holiness is not necessarily filled with heroic acts, but more often with the small acts of every day.

Today too, those undertaking the hour long walk from Westminster to Southwark, by engaging in this small act, are witnessing to the world of the Glory of God as they give thanks for the Beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman and for the Holy Father's visit.

Let us send those in the procession our best wishes, join with them in thanksgiving and praise, and ask the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham, St Therese of Lisieux and Blessed John Henry Newman for the success of this great gesture of Catholic witness, achieved through the little deeds of individuals.

Blessed John Henry Newman on the hope for Reunion

… I gather up and bear in memory those familiar affectionate companions and counsellors, who in Oxford were given to me, one after another, to be my daily solace and relief; and all those others, of great name and high example, who were my thorough friends, and showed me true attachment in times long past….

And I earnestly pray for this whole company, with a hope against hope, that all of us, who once were so united, and so happy in our union, may even now be brought at length, by the Power of the Divine Will, into One Fold and under One Shepherd.

Apologia pro Vita Sua

Blessed John Henry Newman's Prayer for Unity

O Lord Jesus Christ, who when Thou wast about to suffer didst pray for Thy disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as Thou art in the Father and the Father in Thee, look down in pity on the manifold divisions among those who profess Thy faith and heal the many wounds which the pride of man and the craft of Satan have inflicted on Thy people.

Break down the walls of separation which divide one party and denomination of Christians from another. Look with compassion on the souls who have been born in one or other of these communions, which not Thou, but man, hath made.

Set free the prisoners from these unauthorised forms of worship, and bring them all to the one communion which Thou didst set up at the beginning – the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Teach all men that the See of Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre, and instrument of Unity. Open their hearts to the long forgotten truth that the Holy Father, the Pope, is Thy Vicar and representative; and that in obeying him in matters of religion they are obeying Thee, so that as there is but one company in heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying Thy holy Name, here below. Amen

Fr Ignatius Harrison, the former Provost of the London Oratory, on Unity

Another of the Holy Father’s outstanding achievements is his inspiring work for Christian Unity in setting-up the Ordinariates for former Anglicans. What a brilliant way of cutting through the plethora of mealy-mouthed verbiage and foggy thinking that has characterized so much ecumenical activity in recent decades, verbiage and fogginess which may indeed have had the very best of intentions, but which nevertheless achieved so little in real terms.

Let us also pray with all our heart and mind and strength that our vitally important ecumenical journey with our Greek and Russian Orthodox brethren will continue apace, that our charitable and respectful dialogue with them will bear much fruit, so that the universal Church might once again breathe with two whole lungs, and so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Domine, ut sit!